Came Back Haunted (Experiment in Terror #10) - Karina Halle Page 0,78
just waiting for something to happen to me, and the more I think about that, the more I feel like I’ve been lured out of bed, that I was never in control to begin with.
Am I really thirsty?
Why am I here?
And that’s when it happens.
My eyes focus on the space in front of the bathroom.
At the slow spread of darkness seeping out from under the door.
Bloody water.
Oh, fuck no.
I put the glass on the counter before I drop it, and that’s the last thing I’m able to do, because suddenly my limbs freeze and I’m paralyzed. I can’t move; it’s like I’m glued to the floor, as if someone went into my mind with a pair of sharp scissors and cut the command center in two.
My eyes go over to Fat Rabbit who is still sleeping soundly, then back over to the bathroom. My mouth opens to yell for Dex but no sounds come out. My vocal chords have also been slashed.
Then, with a slow creak, the bathroom door opens. From the side view here I can’t see who it is, but there’s no point in wondering when I know it’s her. I just don’t know how she’s going to come out. Walk out slowly? Or run quickly on all floors? Or will the demon, the curse, be the first one out?
A foot appears.
A dainty foot, pale as the moon, steps out onto the hardwood floor.
Samantha follows.
A cry freezes in my throat.
But this Samantha looks different from the Samantha of before.
She’s still bleeding profusely from the wrists, the blood running in rivulets to the floor, but her skin is different. It’s smooth, nary a blemish in sight. Her white nightgown has no stains, flows freely around her body like silk. It’s slightly see-through and I can see her nipples through the material, the shape of her taut body underneath. She’s built like a supermodel.
And she looks like one too.
Her face is porcelain smooth, with big dark eyes, long lashes, a full red mouth.
She’s absolutely beautiful, can’t be more than thirty-five.
I know I shouldn’t be thinking this, I know I should be freaking out, but I can’t help it. Samantha Poe, whether she looked like this before death or not, is gorgeous.
She’s mesmerizing.
She walks toward me, slowly, one foot in front of the other, her chin raised high in confidence, her eyes locked to mine until I can feel electricity at the base of my skull.
Fat Rabbit lifts his head, his big eyes watching her every move. For a moment I think he’s going to bark but she just raises her hand at him without looking and gives him a wave. He snorts, settling back down onto the couch and closing his eyes.
“It’s so hard to get you alone,” she says to me, her voice husky and cool, making my insides feel like jelly. “I’ve been trying.”
You’ve been terrifying, I think.
She smirks, her eyes lighting up. “Sometimes I can’t help it,” she says. “You understand what happened to me, don’t you?”
She keeps walking, coming closer and closer.
And closer.
She stops a foot away, close enough to feel the energy radiating off her like a nuclear reactor. It’s a cold energy, making my breath freeze in the air, my skin prickling as if from frostbite.
I’m terrified.
“Don’t be scared,” she says, smiling. Her teeth are white and perfect.
She inches forward, her eyes searching the corners my face.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she adds. “I just want to open your eyes.”
My eyes are open.
“They’re looking at me, but they aren’t seeing the truth,” she whispers.
She raises her hand and slowly reaches for my face.
I can’t fucking breathe.
She can’t touch me.
She shouldn’t be able to.
But she does.
Her fingertips rest on my cheekbones, shocking me with a jolt of electricity that sinks into my skull, making my bones vibrate. It’s almost painful.
“I know you talked to my son today,” she says softly. “It’s too bad that you’re already a taken woman. You could have ended up with him. Destiny is a beautiful thing when you let it happen.”
I’m not a witch.
She smiles sweetly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“No. You’re not. But you could be. Perry, you can be anything you want to be.” She leans in to my ear. The smell of the ocean overwhelms my senses. “You have so much power inside you,” she whispers, her breath causing my ear to freeze. “You don’t even know what to do with it. What you’re really capable of.”